Lake Bastrop KATS Tournament Re-Cap

It was January 28^th, 2012.  The middle of winter, and it was cold.  Temperatures ranged from a low of 41 and a high in the low 50’s.  It was overcast and the winds were blowing hard with gusts up to 30 mph.  Just plain nasty, a hard day to be in a kayak.  But even those conditions could not stop over 55 anglers from entering the 2012 KATS Tournament Series opener on Lake Bastrop.

Lake Bastrop is a power plant lake, so the water typically stays pretty warm.  However, it had rained hard two days prior and a series of cold fronts recently blew in with the most recent coming through in the early morning hours the day of the tournament, so the lake was colder than normal.  Not only was dealing with the weather hard, but the fishing was too.  Only 29 of the 57 anglers entered in the tournament managed to catch at least one keeper fish. Of those, only 5 anglers were able to pull in a 5 fish limit!  Like I said, fishing was tough for a Lake that usually produces high catch totals. 

I fished from my Jackson Coosa (my Cuda is not in yet.)  There were white-caps and constant winds around 20 mph with gusts over 30 mph, but my Coosa took it all like a champ!  Staying dry was important in the cold temperatures, and my Coosa kept me dry.  Only my feet got wet, and that was my fault for not wearing waterproof shoes or socks.  My plan was to fish deep ledges just off of spawning flats, hoping to catch a few big fat-girls.  But…my plans changed quickly when even my 10 lbs anchor could not hold me steady in wind!  I moved shallow into a protected cove after only about an hour of fishing deep.  To my surprise, I quickly managed to catch my first fish at around 8:30 am, a good 16.5 inch bass on P. H. Kellner – Quality Custom Fishing custom Jig, in a White Shad pattern (www.phkellner.com), in some new-growth reeds in 3-4 feet of water.

My second fish of the day came on the same custom jig in the reeds in about 4 feet of water, at around 9:30 am.  This one was a little smaller, at 15.25 in.

Then, for some unknown reason, I decided to move back to my original plan of fishing deeper water with crankbaits (even after catching two keepers up shallow, don’t ask me why.)  I paddled all the way across the lake, back into deeper water and the wind and fished for a few hours without a bite.  Finally, I made a smart choice.  I paddled into a strong head wind, with white-caps breaking over my kayak, all the way back to the protected cove I was fishing earlier.  Paddling the Coosa against all that was actually pretty easy compared to other kayaks I have used in the past.  I fished around in the cove for a couple hours without a bite.  For some reason, my mental game was not there for this tournament and could not figure out the fact that the bass I was catching were in the new-growth reeds in about 3-4 feet of water.  I finally figured it back out and caught my third and final fish, on the same jig, in new growth reeds, in 3 feet of water, at about 1:30 in the afternoon.  It was my largest of the day, measuring in at 17.75 inches.

I had one other fish hit my jig after that, but I missed the hookset, and it was time to paddle back to the launch site for our 3:00 check in.  I managed a top-10 finish with my three fish, but I feel I should have done better if I would have been smarter about how I fished and managed my time.  I think a big part of the reason I caught these three keepers was the BioEdge (www.bioedgefishing.com) scent wand that I used.  I think it gave my jigs an edge over everyone elses.  I will be more mentally prepared for the next tournament at Fayette on February 25^th.  Congratulations to Steve Garcia, Matthew Hebert, and Robert Lebeuf, for finishing 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd, respectively.  Hopefully I have my Cuda then.  If not, I am sure my Coosa will perform superbly again.


Other articles that might interest you:
Lake Fayette - 2012 KATS Tournament Stop #2 (Feb. 25)
The Case for a "Big-Time" Kayak Tournament Trail